Creating a top ten list is no easy feat, and is sure to spark some debate. The discoveries are those that "really excited" the folks over at the magazine. And for that, it is hard to argue against their selections.

Sacred Maya Blue Chichén Itzá, Mexico – Maya blue, the brilliant and long-lasting paint that graces scores of Maya sites, is one of just a handful of man-made pigments known to the ancient world.

Wari Masked Mummy Lima, Peru – Not all big discoveries come from out-of-the-way places. In August, Peruvian archaeologists announced they had found an intact mummy from the Wari culture in a burial mound beneath a busy Lima neighborhood.

Kuttamuwa’s Soul Zincirli, Turkey – Digging at ancient Sam’al, capital of an Iron Age kingdom in southeastern Turkey, they [Archaeologists] were thrilled when they excavated an extremely well-preserved eighth-century B.C. funerary stele depicting a high official named Kuttamuwa.

American Genes North America – The remarkable discovery of 14,300-year-old feces in eastern Oregon’s Paisley Cave provided the earliest direct evidence of human colonization of the Americas.

Imperial Colossi Sagalassos, Turkey – Legendary emperors are coming out of the earth at Sagalassos, a classical metropolis in central Turkey. After the assassination of Domitian in A.D. 96, a new Roman dynasty arose–the Antonines.